University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
#7 Tennessee
No. 8 UT Defeats No. 9 UGA For SEC Tournament Title
May 15, 2011 | Softball
May 14, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - Eighth-ranked Tennessee defeated ninth-ranked Georgia, 6-5, in eight innings to win the 2011 Southeastern Conference Tournament title on Saturday evening in front of an Ole Miss Softball Complex crowd of 1,142.
Third-seeded Tennessee (47-10) rallied from a 4-0 deficit to force extra innings and Shelby Burchell (2-for-4) hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Lady Volunteers their second SEC Tournament title in program history.
With the win, Tennessee earns the SEC's automatic berth in the 2011 NCAA Division I Softball Championships while Georgia will await a probable at-large selection in the tournament. The full field of 64 teams, with 30 earning automatic berths, will be announced on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Fifth-seeded Georgia (47-12) jumped out to the four-run lead in the top of the first inning with a one-out solo home run from senior Taylor Schlopy and a two-out, three-run home run from junior Kristyn Sandberg off of Tennessee starting pitcher Ivy Renfroe.
The Lady Vols chipped away at the Bulldog lead in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Jessica Spigner hit the first of her two, two-run home runs to make it 4-2. In the fifth, Raven Chavanne reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
The Bulldogs picked one of those runs back up in the top of the sixth. Sandberg doubled to center and sophomore Maya Branch came on as a pinch runner. Branch then moved up on a groundout and scored on an infield single from senior Laura Trout.
In the bottom of the sixth, Spigner hit the second of her home runs to tie the game at 5-5, which would force the extra inning.
In the eighth, Burchell hit the third home run of the game for the Lady Vols for the 6-5 win.
From the circle, Ellen Renfroe (26-5) earned the win after relieving her sister in the first inning and pitching 7.1 innings allowing one run on five hits. Sophomore Alison Owen (15-5) suffered the loss with 1.2 innings of relief.
Freshman Morgan Montemayor, junior Ashley Razey and senior Megan Wiggins were named to the SEC All-Tournament team for the efforts on the weekend.
Montemayor went 2-0 with a 2.02 ERA in 17.1 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts including 5.1 innings on Saturday.
Razey provided six RBI including a game-winning three-run home run to defeat Alabama to advance Georgia into the title game.
Wiggins helped spark the Bulldogs' offensive output in the tournament by getting a leadoff single and scoring what proved to the game-winning run in the quarterfinal win over LSU, a game she also added a two-run triple as she extended her UGA career record for extra-base hits to 114. Wiggins finished the weekend tied for the team lead in runs scored with three.
2011 SEC All-Tournament Team:
Ellen Renfroe, Tennessee (Most Valuable Player)
Shelby Burchell, Tennessee
Raven Chavanne, Tennessee
Jessica Spigner, Tennessee
Morgan Montemayor, Georgia
Ashley Razey, Georgia
Megan Wiggins, Georgia
Jennifer Fenton, Alabama
Whitney Larson, Alabama
Angel Bunner, Auburn
Lauren Guzman, Auburn
